Honorable Secretary Wang Hao,

Distinguished Heads of International Organizations,

Dear guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First, I would like to thank Mr. Secretary for giving me this
opportunity to deliver a speech to such a distinguished audience.

I would like to start my speech by pointing out that, Turkey has a
total of 18 precious cultural and natural sites inscribed on the UNESCO World
Heritage List as of 2020. And a vast area of İstanbul’s historical part,
Suleymaniye quarter with Suleymaniye Mosque complex, Archaeological Park at the
tip of the Historic peninsula, the Zeyrek area and land walls are all inscribed
on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

I think that, tourism differs from other commercial activities with its
multi-dimensional profoundness. It cannot be confined to just having bed and
food. Rather, it is a search for unknown experiences of various aspects, natural,
historical, cultural, intellectual, or emotional. Hence, these experiences
enrich visitors’ perspectives on life.

And destinations, which offer deeper understanding and feeling of
life’s mysterious aspects come to the fore.
In this presentation, I will try to put forth some aspects of the most
prominent destinations of my country, which offers a deeper understanding and
perspective of cultural and historical richness of humanity.

While talking about cities famous with its cultural richness, İstanbul,
one of the most glorious cities in the world, obviously deserves a great
attention. I am sure that each of you in this venue has heard about its
rightful reputation one way or another.

Yet, I would like to take this opportunity to present once again İstanbul’s
invaluable characteristics, which made it one of the most magnificent cities in
the world.

The latest discoveries indicate that the history of human habitation in
the city goes back thousands of years. İstanbul is the only city situated on
two continents in the world, one arm reaching out to Asia and the other to
Europe, where mosques, churches and synagogues exist side by side as a symbol
of tolerance and fraternity of religions.

That is to say, the city is not just located on the two continents
geographically, but it also reflects various aspects of multiple cultures
living on those continents.

As the city combines the two continents, it also brings together the
Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The histories of those seas also flow through
the Bosphorus with those waters.

At every turn in the city one can happen upon the ruins of gorgeous
civilizations such as Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans. With its rich history
and enchanting natural beauty, Istanbul has been a huge source of inspiration,
fascinating its visitors.

Countless number of poems and songs have been produced throughout
history, in an effort to capture and describe those beauties.

Building on its assets inherited from a glorious past, Istanbul is an
international city with a financial and economic center offering services in
banking, telecommunications, marketing, and particularly tourism. International
conferences and festivals, fairs, sports and art performances add new
dimensions to the attractiveness of the city.

For sure, İstanbul is not the only historical city of my country. There
are plenty of cities in Turkey with a cultural heritage rooted in history.
Because of time restriction, I would like to briefly mention some of the
prominent cultural historical cities here.

For example, with its plentiful fairy-chimneys, formed by the wind and
the rain water through millions of years, Cappadocia is one of the most visited
places in Turkey particularly by Chinese tourists. There are hundreds of
churches carved in the rocks and hundreds of underground cities in the
surrounding area.

Dating back 12 thousand years, the first temple of the world,
Göbeklitepe is regarded by many scientists as the most significant
archaeological discovery of the 21st century. In order to emphasize the importance
of this archeological discovery, I think it would be sufficient to say that
it’s nearly 8 thousand years older than the pyramids and 7 thousand years older
than the Stonehenge.

I proudly announce here that this place, where the history has begun,
is located in Şanlıurfa, the city where my hometown is.

The city is famous not only for Göbeklitepe, but also for its history
of prophets such as Abraham, Jacop and Jethro. The old city of Harran, which is
mentioned in the Bible, is also located in Şanlıurfa. I would be pleased to
host you in my hometown.

The other well-known top touristic destination in Turkey is Antalya.
While Antalya is famous for its beautiful coasts and natural beauties, it also
has countless historical artifacts. Demre, the birthplace of St. Nicholas,
Perge and Aspendos are just a few examples of Antalya’s cultural heritage.

Konya is another important historical city in the middle of Anatolia.
Dating back to 7400BC, Çatalhöyük is renowned as one of the earliest
settlements of the Neolithic era, shedding light on the dawn of human
settlement with unique examples of the earliest domestic architecture and
landscape painting as well as sacred objects of the mother-goddess cult.

Konya is also known for its Whirling Dervishes, reflecting mystic Sufi
tradition created by Mevlana Celaleddini Rumi, who has handed down an
interpretation of İslamic belief from the point of love. I believe that the
verses below summarizing his tenet is quite significant for the world peace and
deserves to be mentioned here:

Whoever you may be, come

Even though you may be

An infidel, a pagan, or a fire-worshipper, come

Our brotherhood is not one of despair

Though you have broken

Your vows of repentance a hundred times, come.

That is to say, sometimes touristic visits offer feasts for our eyes.
But sometimes it calls out to our souls and minds. Cultural destinations do
both of them.

There are surely plenty of destinations in Turkey offering deeper
experiences to our eyes, ears, and minds. However, the time allocated to me on
this floor limits my desire to present you all of those beauties of my country.
Therefore, I will confine myself to the above presentation and will comment on
the tourism development dimension a bit.

I would like to put particular emphasis on the sustainability of
tourism development. Sustainable tourism is aimed at minimizing the negative
effects of tourism development in any community and environment. In this
approach, protection of both the natural and the cultural environment while
increasing the qualities of the tourism services, is of primary importance.

We all have the responsibility to the future generations, while meeting
the needs of our economy and society.

With a 7,200 km of coastline, Turkey is the third country in the world
having more than 485 blue flag beaches. This number is an indication of the
environmental management quality of Turkey, in terms of sustainable tourism
development.

In line with this sensitivity, Turkey launched an extensive awareness
of safe tourism in face of the pandemic. As one of the first countries to
launch “Safe Tourism Certification” Program in the world, Turkey is taking
serious measures.

The Safe Tourism Certification, covers a broad range of safety measures
in transport, accommodation, and health conditions for tourists in Turkey. The
certificate, issued by international certification institutions, validates the
execution of strict health and hygiene requirements at airlines, airports, and
other transport facilities, as well as in accommodation, food and beverage
venues.

Turkey also offers special travel insurance packages for international
tourists to cover COVID-19 related expenses.

From a Turkish-Chinese tourism perspective, despite the sharp rises in
the number of Chinese visitors to Turkey for the last two years, it is still
below our expectations. In 2019, Turkey hosted over 500,000 Chinese tourists.
After the pandemic, we aim at increasing this number up to one million. Bearing
in mind that Turkey hosts more than 45 million visitors every year, 1 million
Chinese visitors could be regarded as quite low.

To sum up, Turkey is the 6th most preferred tourist destination in the
world and 4th in Europe, according to UNWTO’s data.

Its strategy is fundamentally based on the sustainability of tourism
and aims at providing the highest quality of services in every area of the
sector which addresses the needs of the visitors while at the same time
safeguarding generations from the detrimental effects of unsustainable tourism
practices.

In line with this strategy, safety now stands on the top of our tourism
agenda and every effort is exerted to make visitors feel safe and comfortable.

We take tourism not just as a simple commercial activity, instead, a
favorable way of sharing and exchanging cultural values, thoughts and ideas
which would contribute to whole of humanity, at the end of the day.

In this endeavor, we are truly eager to cooperate with our partners,
private, state and international institutions. UNWTO is performing a great job
in this respect to ensure a responsible and sustainable tourism.

I would like to thank Mr. Secretary for his invaluable work and to
those supporting him in those efforts.

Thank you for listening.